15th-16th March, 2023

1. Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari has flagged off India’s 1st 100% methanol-powered prototype truck in Bengaluru.
2. India-Australia CEO forum was held in Mumbai.
3. NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission and Australia’s national science agency Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) have joined hands to encourage cooperation on innovations in areas of national challenges and shared priorities.
4. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented a Rs 1.18 lakh crore budget for Jammu and Kashmir UT, for the year 2023-24, in the Lok Sabha.
5. Ministry of Defence signed a contract for the Normal Refit of the Sindhukirti submarine, at Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Visakhapatnam.
6. Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) and The Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT), Stockholm, Sweden, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to strengthen cooperation and promote research networking between research institutions from both countries.
7. The 3rd edition of the La Perouse multilateral exercise will be held in the Indian Ocean Area.
8. 2022 World Air Quality Report (5th edition) has been released by IQAir.
9. RBI has infused liquidity amounting to ₹82,650 crore into the banking system via the 14-day Variable Rate Repo (VRR) auction.
10. Suryoday Small Finance Bank has launched the ‘Blossom Women’s Savings Account’ with 7% per annum interest rate with monthly interest credit.
11. RBI has granted an ‘Infrastructure Finance Company’ (IFC) status to Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). It was earlier classified as ‘Investment and Credit Company’ (ICC).
12. Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has appointed Tablesh Pandey as its MD, with effect from April 1, 2023.
13. Surekha Yadav, Asia’s first woman loco pilot, has now become the first female to operate the newly introduced semi-high speed Vande Bharat Express train.
14. MS Dhoni has been roped in as the brand ambassador of Viacom18.
15. The government has appointed Deepak Mohanty as the chairman of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
16. International Day of Action for Rivers (26th edition)
17. March 15 – World Consumer Rights Day; Theme – Empowering consumers through clean energy transitions
18. Noted Hindi writer Dr Gyan Chaturvedi’s 2018 satirical novel, Pagalkhana, has won the 32nd Vyas Samman, 2022.
19. RBI Governor Shaktikant Das won the ‘Governor of the Year’ 2023 award by the international publication Central Banking.
20. World Economic Forum has announced the induction of the newest members of its Young Global Leaders Class of 2023.
21. India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the fourth successive time by defeating Australia in 2-1 series.
22. Scientists have discovered a new comet named C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)” or “A3″ for short, which is 680 million miles away from Sun.
23. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar released the “Mundaka Upanishad: The Gateway to Eternity” book by Dr Karan Singh, a former member of parliament.

National News

1. Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari has flagged off India’s 1st 100% methanol-powered prototype truck in
   • It is a joint initiative by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Ashok Leyland, and Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
   • It is world’s second 100% methanol (M100) prototype truck.
2. India-Australia CEO forum was held in
   • Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) was signed between India and Australia to unlock the next level of potential in trade and investment.
   • India and Australia have signed an audio-visual co-production agreement under which private, quasi-government or governmental agencies of the two countries enter contracts to produce films together.
3. NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission and Australia’s national science agency Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) have joined hands to encourage cooperation on innovations in areas of national challenges and shared priorities.
   • Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and CSIRO have signed a letter of intent to drive innovation activities in areas of national challenges and shared priorities of both countries.
   • India Australia Innovation and Technology Challenge (IA-ITC) intends to leverage the complementary capabilities and resources of the innovation ecosystem of both the countries.
   • Australia India trade association (AITA) hosted 20+ Australian clean energy companies that have arrived in India as part of the SMART energy council delegation headed by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
   • AITA works on facilitating trade relations between Australia and India and is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia, with liaison offices in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Lucknow, and Hyderabad.
   • Secretary General of AITA – Vineet Rai

State News

1. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented a Rs 1.18 lakh crore budget for Jammu and Kashmir UT, for the year 2023-24, in the Lok Sabha.
   • The budget assures to double the UT’s GDP within 5 years.
   • It has themes of good governance; strengthening grass-root democracy; promoting sustainable agriculture; facilitating investment and industrial growth; employment generation; accelerated development and inclusive growth; and women empowerment and social inclusion.
   • Kashmir is likely to be connected to the rest of the country through rail network by the end of 2023 and the government also plans to roll out light metro rail in Jammu and Srinagar during the next financial year.

Defence News

1. Ministry of Defence signed a contract for the Normal Refit of the Sindhukirti submarine, at Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Visakhapatnam.
   • The contract, worth Rs 934 crore, aims to enhance the submarine’s operational capability and extend its operational life.
   • The Sindhukirti submarine, which was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1990, is a part of the Sindhughosh class of submarines.

Memorandum of Understand

1. Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) and The Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT), Stockholm, Sweden, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to strengthen cooperation and promote research networking between research institutions from both countries.

International News

1. The 3rd edition of the La Perouse multilateral exercise will be held in the Indian Ocean Area.
   • The Royal Australian Navy, French Navy, Indian Navy, Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force, Royal Navy, and United States Navy will participate in this exercise.

Reports and Indices

1. 2022 World Air Quality Report (5th edition) has been released by IQAir.
   • Lahore (Pakistan) has the worst air in the world. In 2021, Lahore’s rank was 15th.
   • Lahore is followed by Hotan (China), Bhiwadi (Rajasthan), Delhi, and Peshawar (Pakistan).
   • This report presents PM2.5 air quality data from 7,323 cities across 131 countries, regions, and territories.
   • Top 5 countries with worst air quality – Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain, and Bangladesh

Banking and Economy

1. RBI has infused liquidity amounting to ₹82,650 crore into the banking system via the 14-day Variable Rate Repo (VRR) auction.
   • Right now, the RBI is aiming at tightening liquidity.
   • Against the notified ₹1 lakh crore under the VRR auction, banks borrowed ₹82,650 crore at a weighted average rate of 6.53%.
   • Reason for infusing money – maturity date for LTROs (long-term repo operations) is coming near. Banks’ will have to make payment back to RBI. Banks’ liquidity will get sucked up and it needs to be filled again.
2. Suryoday Small Finance Bank has launched the ‘Blossom Women’s Savings Account’ with 7% per annum interest rate with monthly interest credit.
   • Minimum age for opening the account – 18 years
3. RBI has granted an ‘Infrastructure Finance Company’ (IFC) status to Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). It was earlier classified as ‘Investment and Credit Company’ (ICC).
   • Benefit – The recognition of IREDA as an IFC will increase the investors’ confidence, enhance the brand value, and generate positive outlook in the market.
   • With IFC status, IREDA will keep contributing towards Govt. of India’s target of 500 GW installed capacity of non-fossil fuels by 2030.

Appointment

1. Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has appointed Tablesh Pandey as its MD, with effect from April 1, 2023.
   • LIC presently has four managing directors.
   • Government has given Siddarth Mohanty the charge of LIC’s chairmanship for a period of 3 months.
     • Currently, Mohanty is MD and CEO of LIC Housing Finance.

2. Surekha Yadav, Asia’s first woman loco pilot, has now become the first female to operate the newly introduced semi-high speed Vande Bharat Express train.
   • She achieved the feat as she piloted the semi-high-speed train between Solapur station and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai.
3. MS Dhoni has been roped in as the brand ambassador of Viacom18.
   • Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s fans have given the cricketer a new nickname: ‘Thala’, which means head or leader in Tamil. Dhoni has been given several nicknames: Captain cool, Mahi, MSD, etc.
4. The government has appointed Deepak Mohanty as the chairman of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

Important Days

1. March 14 –
   • International Day of Action for Rivers (26th edition)
   • International Day of Mathematics; Theme – Mathematics for Everyone

2. March 15 – World Consumer Rights Day; Theme – Empowering consumers through clean energy transitions

Awards

1. Noted Hindi writer Dr Gyan Chaturvedi’s 2018 satirical novel, Pagalkhana, has won the 32nd Vyas Samman, 2022.

2. RBI Governor Shaktikant Das won the ‘Governor of the Year’ 2023 award by the international publication Central Banking.
   • He was conferred the ‘Central Banker of the Year, Asia-Pacific 2020’ award by the London based magazine-The Banker.

3. World Economic Forum has announced the induction of the newest members of its Young Global Leaders Class of 2023.
   • Indians in the 2023 YGL Class –

Sports

1. India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the fourth successive time by defeating Australia in 2-1 series.
   • India have also qualified for the World Test Championship final where they will face Australia at The Oval Stadium in London, England.
2. Scientists have discovered a new comet named C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)” or “A3″ for short, which is 680 million miles away from Sun.
   • The comet will reach closest to sun in 2024, causing the comet’s brightness to increase dramatically. Its lustre would outsmart the “Green Comet’s” shining.

Miscellaneous

1. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar released the “Mundaka Upanishad: The Gateway to Eternity” book by Dr Karan Singh, a former member of parliament.

Start Quiz of 15th-16th march 2023 on Mobile

Start Quiz of 15th-16th march 2023 on Desktop